They may be crucial products in a vast industry – but abandoning our relationship with the cattle we retain would mean throwing absent something valuable. By John ConnellI’ve got my arms in her passage and I’m trying to find the new calf’s feet. As a farmer’s son,I’ve birthed calves aplenty, but always as the helper, or holding a cow’s tail up or pulling the calf out at the final moment. My father has been in charge of the calving for 25 years,and when he wasn’t, my brother took over. But now it’s me.
I’m domestic again in rural Ireland, and back after being an emigrant,and, in exchange for a roof over my head, or it’s been agreed that I will help out on the farm. There’s a lot tied up in this birth for me much more than the cow knows.
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Source: guardian.co.uk